Monday, January 22, 2007

ESPN ranks the best GMs in the game today, and Ned Colletti isn't on their list (which only reads seven deep). Terry Ryan of the Twins is first, and aside from Oakland's Billy Beane (in a three-way tie for second), there is no other West team (either NL or AL) mentioned.

But back to Colletti. If he's not in the top seven, just where is Colletti? Well, Dayn Perry over at FoxSports puts him at #21 out of 30, after Kevin Towers of the Padres at #7, Josh Byrnes of the Diamondbacks at #16, and Colletti mentor Brian Sabean of the Giants at #17. (Dan O'Dowd of the Rockies is down at #29.)

Colletti getting placed below Sabean on this list is absurd, given the deals San Francisco has done; Zito got mad money for a Kevin-Brown-length deal, Barry Bonds was offered $16-20M when no other suitors were interested, and for every aging vet the Dodgers signed, the Giants signed older position players at higher salaries. And Perry's knock on Colletti is his penchant for trading prospects--which, to be fair, has not resulted in a raid on the cupboard as of yet this offseason.

But it's clear that Colletti's team-building strategies have not yet earned him a seat at the big boy table. A DePodesta hangover, perhaps?